Fuel Management

Gasoline Prices Edge up to $2.26

October 12, 2016
• by Staff

Photo via Wikipedia.

Gasoline prices have increased for 12 of the past 14 days, reaching a national average of $2.26 per gallon despite a seasonal drop in demand. The average is 3 cents more than one week and 8 cents more than one month ago, but 6 cents less than one year ago, according to the AAA.

Hurricane Matthew caused concern about fuel availability, and affected states have experienced price jumps as a result, with an increase of 4 cents in Florida and 4 cents in South Carolina. Ports and fuel terminals in affected states were closed before the storm, but no refineries were in the path of the storm, and ports have been reopened, according to AAA.

Many states in the Midwest experienced increases due to ongoing effects of last month’s Colonial Pipeline leak and seasonal refinery work. Five Midwestern states were on the list of top 10 weekly increases, including Indiana (11 cents), Michigan (10 cents), Missouri (8 cents), Ohio (8 cents), and Illinois (6 cents).

West Coast prices remained steady. All six states with an average of $2.50 or more were in that region, including Hawaii ($2.84), California ($2.79), Washington ($2.72), Alaska ($2.64), Oregon ($2.52), and Nevada ($2.50).

The national average price for diesel climbed to $2.445, an increase of almost 6 cents from last week’s price of $2.389, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

FedEx Express improved fuel efficiency by 2.9% in fiscal year 2017 and has moved closer to meeting its corporate goal of a 50% increase by 2025 over 2005 levels, the company reported in its annual sustainability report.

Voters in Missouri, Utah, and Washington rejected state ballot measures on Tuesday that would have added new taxes on fuel or energy use by fleet vehicles, while California voters elected to keep increased fuel taxes in place to fund the state's infrastructure.

The national average gasoline price has fallen to a six-month low at $2.76 for a gallon of unleaded fuel on the same day the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran, which haven't driven prices high as the oil market has remained steady.

The national average gasoline price fell 3 cents to $2.82 for the week ending Oct. 29, as national gasoline prices have fallen for 16 days in part due to the end of the peak of refinery maintenance season, according to AAA.

As part of the partnership, Fleetcor will manage the back-end system processing and billing of LeasePlan’s new universal fuel card. Fleetcor will also manage and provide a variety of other services for LeasePlan USA, the company stated.

The national average gasoline price fell 4 cents to $2.85 per gallon for the week ending Oct. 22, as the price has given way following several weeks of lower demand. The price is where it was a month ago and 39 cents higher than a year ago.

Most states saw lower fuel prices this week, as the nation's average gasoline price fell 2 cents to $2.89 per gallon for the week ending Oct. 15. A handful of states on the west coast and southeast saw higher prices due to fuel disruptions, according to AAA.

Great Lakes states such as Ohio and Indiana saw the highest weekly gasoline price increases, as the national price increased 3 cents to $2.91. Prices increased in 43 states with the national price average increasing 6 cents from a month ago and 41 cents from a year ago, according to AAA.